FAQ's

Everyday people know more about organ and tissue donation than ever before. There is still much misinformation about this important decision. If your own questions are not answered here, please visit our Myths & Facts, go to www.organdonor.gov or contact us for more information.

Questions With Answers:

1. How can I become an organ and tissue donor?

2. What organs and tissues can I donate?

One donor can save up to eight lives by donating organs! S/he can improve up to 50 other lives by donating tissues! You may specify which organs and tissues you wish to donate. Medical advances have made transplantation of the heart, lungs, liver, kidneys, pancreas and intestines possible. Tissues used for transplantation include corneas, heart valves, thin layers of bone or skin, and soft tissues such as tendons, veins, and cartilage.

3. Can a person be a living donor?

A kidney, parts of some other organs, bone marrow, and blood or platelets can be donated by living individuals—these may be relatives or friends of the recipient or may be people not known to the recipient who choose to be anonymous donors. You may register to be a living bone marrow donor by going to www.marrow.org. To donate blood or platelets, visit the Red Cross website.

4. Can organs be given to different racial groups or to individuals of the opposite sex?

For some organs such as the heart, lung, or liver; donor and recipient race and gender are not factors but organ size is critical to make a successful match. For other organs such as kidney or pancreas, genetic makeup is more crucial. Optimal tissue matching can happen within the same racial and genetic background. For example, an individual of Asian descent may match better with a kidney donated from another Asian versus a different race. It is important, therefore, to increase the minority donor pool so that the best matches can be made as frequently as possible for minority patients. Cross-racial donations can and do happen with great success when matches are available; however, members of different racial and ethnic groups are usually more gnentically similar to members of their own group than they are to others.

5. Why should minorities be particularly concerned about organ donation?

The need for transplants is unusually high among some ethnic minorities. Some diseases of the kidney, heart, lung, pancreas, and liver that can lead to organ failure are found more frequently in ethnic minority populations than in the general population. Some of these diseases can only be treated through transplantation, and the rate of organ donation in minorities does not keep pace with the number needing transplants. Because of this, minority patients may have to wait longer for matched kidneys and therefore may be sicker at the time of transplant or may die waiting. Successful transplantation is often enhanced by matching of organs between members of the same racial and ethnic group. Generally, people are genetically more similar to people of their own ethnicity or race than to people of other races. Therefore, matches are more likely and more timely when donors and potential recipients are members of the same ethnic background. The need for minority donors is great. With more donated organs from minorities, finding a match will be quicker, waiting time will be reduced, overall success of the transplant is enhanced and lives are saved.

6. Do the donor family and recipient(s) meet?

They may choose to meet under very specific circumstances. The identity of all parties is kept confidential. The donor family and the transplant recipient may receive general information such as age, sex, occupation and general location. Individually, the recipient may be told the circumstances of death, and the donor’s family may be informed of the transplants that were performed and receive feedback on how the health of the recipients has improved. If one person wants to meet the other(s), s/he may express this to the Transplant team. Only after both parties have indicated they wish to meet and they have waived confidentiality will any detailed personal information be revealed to either party.

7. What about coma and brain death? Are they the same? I have heard that people can recover from a coma. Can people recover from brain death?

A coma and brain death are completely different. A person in a coma still has brain activity and is alive. The person may recover from a coma and possibly regain normal brain function. People who are brain dead have no brain activity. They are dead. Their brain can never recover, but the rest of their body may be kept functioning for a short time by a mechanical support system.

8. Are families of individuals who have just died but who had not declared an intention to be a donor given the option of donating their loved one’s organs and tissues?

Yes. Federal law requires hospitals to report all deaths and imminent deaths to the local Organ Procurement Organization (OPO.) Each OPO works with hospitals in its area to coordinate identification, evaluation, removal, and transport of donated organs. This notification from the hospital allows OPO personnel to determine whether a person who has died is medically suitable to be a donor and to approach family members of potential donors to offer them the option of donating their loved one’s organs and tissues.

9. If I have already decided to be a donor, will my family still get to decide whether my organs will be donated?

Although the decision of a deceased person to designate him or herself as a donor—through a donor registry—is sufficient consent in all States to allow the donor’s organs and tissues to be donated without asking for the family’s consent, Organ Procurement Organizations (OPOs) in most States ask the donor’s family to consent to the donation before proceeding. An increasing number of States are passing laws requiring OPOs to honor the deceased person's registered decision to donate. This concept is often popularly referred to as “first person consent” and is based on the belief that the donor’s wishes should be paramount and not be overridden by his or her family after the person’s death. In first person consent situations, OPO coordinators take great care to talk to the family before the removal of organs to make sure that the family understands and appreciates the donor’s desire to save the lives of other people through organ donation. In the event of your death, documentation of your wish to become a donor will increase the chance that you will be a donor. If your family is asked for consent, telling them about your decision to be a donor is the best way to ensure that your wishes are carried out. The death of a loved one is a very difficult time for a family, and knowing they can carry out that person's wish to save lives through donation can be comforting.

10. If my organs are donated, who decides who receives them?

A nonprofit organization under a contract with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services operates a computerized national waiting list of people who need a life-saving organ transplant. This system matches each wait-listed patient against a donated organ to see which patient is the best match based on factors such as body size, weight, and blood type of the donor and recipient, how sick the patient is, how long the patient has been waiting for a transplant, and where they live in relation to the donor.

11. Who pays for transplant surgery and for organ and tissue donation?

Most transplants are paid for by private health insurance, Medicare, or Medicaid programs. Patients can get detailed information from their physicians or health insurers.

There is no cost to a donor’s family or a deceased donor’s estate. All costs of removal and preservation of the donated organs and tissue are borne by Organ Procurement Organizations and are usually passed on to the transplant center and the recipient’s insurance company. However, medical costs incurred while attempting to save the life of a potential donor are the responsibility of the donor’s insurance company or the donor’s family. Costs incurred after a person is determined to be a donor become the responsibility of the Organ Procurement Organization.

12. What does my religion say about organ and tissue donation?

All major religions support the decision to donate considering it a generous act that is the individual’s choice. Read about various religious viewpoints.

13. Where can I get more statistics and data about donation and transplants?